The present invention relates to a novel and useful fishing apparatus.
Fishing often requires a great deal of patience and skill. This is especially true when a fisherman presents a lure or bait to fish which are located beneath the surface of the water. In many cases, certain fish will initially take a baited hook, but will reject the same once the hook itself or resistance to the pulling of the baited hook is detected. At this point, an experienced fisherman would quickly set the hook in order to catch the fish. Where a fishing rod and reel, having a baited hook is set in a stand or is not other wise closely attended, the fish is often lost because the initial strike by the fish takes place before the fisherman is able to set the hook.
In the past, many devices have been proposed to automatically trigger the setting of a hook by quickly raising the tip of the rod when a fish initially bites the baited hook. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,681,516 and 7,086,194 disclose fishing rod holders which latch a fishing rod to a holder and signals a fish strike by the use of a spring mechanism when the fish pulls on a hook connected to the fishing rod through a line.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,031,651 4,397,113, and 5,542,205 disclose hook setting devices in which a fishing rod and reel are fixed to a holder that is coupled to a trigger mechanism that lifts the rod tip once a fish strikes the fishing apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,205 shows a fishhook setting device in which the rod and real are placed in a tube and a trigger is engaged when a pawl moves away from a roller via a link arm. Upward movement is afforded by the use of a spring mechanism.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,676,018, 5,245,778, and 5,524,376 show spring actuated rod lifters to set fishing hooks in which the fishing line aids in triggering the device when a fish strikes the hook. A spring mechanism is used to rapidly lift the tip of the rod to set the hook.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,397,113 and 7,017,296 show hook setting devices for fishing where a spring lifts the rod tip upwardly when the fish strikes the hook connected the line of the fishing pole. The spring action is initiated by a trigger which reacts to the pulling force exerted by the fish striking the hook.
A hook setting device for a fishing apparatus which quickly reacts to the striking action of the fish and accommodates the motion of a boat or the adjacent body of water would be a notable advance in the sporting arts.